Au-dessus de la tranchée. Carnets de guerre d'un chef d'escadrilles

The diaries and war notes kept by the combatants constitute the most precious source for historians insofar as they reflect feedback and thus allow an entry into history "from below". Indeed, these documents are exempt from the dryness of administrative archives and derive from them a character of "experience" conferring a human depth to the historical narrative and allowing the reader to establish empathy with their authors, a century away.
The Carnets de Georges Villa are no exception: 8 small volumes of around 400 pages written with a neat and clear pen between July 12, 1914 and January 22, 1919, with nevertheless a hiatus in the first year of the war when Lieutenant Villa fought in the infantry. The writing is simple and concise without literary pretensions or particular stylistic research. Caught in the
continuity, these Notebooks are the work of a diarist of circumstance that it is important to read on several levels. First of all, it is a private document written in the intimacy of the many moments of leisure and even deep boredom left by military life, in various circumstances and according to its multiple assignments, its primary intention being to serve as memory support to its author.